GHSA moving state basketball finals from Macon to Atlanta, Athens

THOMASTON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Georgia High School Association announced agreements that would move the state’s high school basketball championship games to the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech’s arenas.

According to a news release from GHSA, the agreement was reached Thursday allowing the two schools to share the hosting duties beginning with the 2017 GHSA state basketball tournament in March.

It’s the first time since 2003 the games will be played at Georgia Tech and the first time ever for the University of Georgia.

“The University of Georgia and Georgia Tech have two of the premier basketball complexes in the state,” GHSA Executive Director Gary Phillips said in the release.

“The primary goal of the GHSA is to promote the best interests of Georgia’s high school student-athletes, and we are thrilled at the experience these venues will offer to the teams, their schools, and their fans,” Phillips continued.

UGA’s Stegeman Coliseum will host eight championship games on Wednesday, March 8 and Thursday, March 9 of 2017.

Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion will be the site of the eight remaining championship games on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11, 2017.

In March, Macon-Bibb County commissioners feared not moving quickly to repair the courts at the Macon Centreplex, where the championship games were played, would mean they’d lose the annual state tournament.

Macon-Bibb County spokesman Chris Floore says while leaders weren’t surprised about the move, they hoped they had more time.

“We think this is still the best location for a statewide basketball tournament. We’re the center of the state. We’re easy access to all the major cities and all of the other cities in the state. So we’re hoping to bring them back,” Floore said.

He says the Centreplex needs to floor boards, changes to the seating, and Wi-Fi installation.

“You know a lot of these teams want people to post to social media. They want to send text messages and it’s kind of difficult in there. So that’s one improvement that we could make,” Floore said.

The county hired the management group Spectra to run both the Centreplex and the Macon City Auditorium.

“We’re hoping that with the improvements and new management that we could get them to come back in a couple of years,” Floore said.

A move that could bring other events to the city and make Macon more attractive.

“More events, larger events, keeping the events we have here and keeping them happy means more revenue,” Floore said.

Once the management company assesses what needs to be done, then the county will know how much it’ll cost for the upgrades.

Floore estimates in the millions.